24
95.
Ricardo David Videla Fernández, age 21 at the time, died at approximately 1:30 p.m. on
June 21, 2005, while in Cell No. 17 at Cellblock 11 of the Young Adults Maximum Security Facility at the
Mendoza Penitentiary. He was found hanging by his belt, which was attached to a bar on his cell
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window.
96.
Administrative case 7808/0I/05/00105/E was opened that same day, titled, “General
Security Inspection-Death of David Videla, alias “El Perro”, in the Provincial Penitentiary,” as was judicial
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inquiry 46824 under Investigative Prosecution Office No. 1 of the Mendoza City Prosecution Unit.
97.
In the judicial investigation, statements were taken from inmates, guards and other prison
personnel in charge of the inmates, as well as the medical and cleaning staff. The record shows that
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Ricardo David Videla had been prescribed medication for a psychiatric condition back on June 3, 2005.
The statements also indicate that he had planned his suicide beforehand and on the day he died had told
guards on several different occasions that he was going to kill himself. The statement taken from Ariel
Gustavo Maccacaro Calderón reads as follows:
This morning, we removed Videla Fernández Ricardo from his cell […] that morning it was
discovered that the bars on the window –the one to the side of the cell door- had been cut off, as if
he was getting it ready since last night for an escape.
[…] I approached Videla’s cell and saw him with his belt around his neck, standing on a kind of
stool up against the wall; he was standing and held himself upright by holding onto the belt that was
around his neck […] He said to me “I’m going to hang myself today, because I can’t stand it here
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any longer.”
98.
Statements were also taken from the inmates in the adjoining cells, who were either
inside or outside their cells at the time. Specifically, inmate Pedro de Jesús Zenteno Rojas said the
following:
They cut the noose and instead of grabbing him they let him drop to the floor and he hit the toilet.
[…] Videla had already told officer Alvea that if he didn’t let him speak with officer Fattori, he was
going to hang himself […] And Alvea replied that if he hung himself he was going to get legal
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measures on him” (…) .
99.
In his statement, inmate Jonathan Matías Díaz Díaz said that
“Then Videla told him [Officer Alvea Gutiérrez] to call officer Fattori…. That if Alvea didn’t do it, then
he [Videla] was going to hang himself. Alvea told him to go ahead and hang himself, because he
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wasn’t going to call Fattori.”
100.
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Inmate Jonathan Gustavo Alfredo Moyano Sandoval said the following:
The State’s brief of June 23, 2005 and the petitioners’ brief received August 3, 2009.
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By note 459, dated October 21, 2009, the State provided copies of administrative case 7808/0I/05/00105/E and court
case 46824/05.
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According to the informative note that Dr. Fernando Pizarro sent to the Administrative Head of the Mendoza Provinicial
Penitentiary, dated June 24, 2005, and presented to the Prosecutor investigating the matter.
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Statement that Ariel Gustavo Macaccaro Calderón, a member of the prison staff, made at 3:50 p.m. on June 21, 2005,
to the investigating Prosecutor in court case 46824/05. The State’s brief of October 29, 2009, with a copy of the proceedings
conducted into the death of Ricardo David Videla Fernández attached.
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Statement that Pedro de Jesús Zenteno Rojas, an inmate at the Mendoza Penitentiary, gave at 8:23 p.m. on June 21,
2005, in the presence of the investigating Prosecutor in court case 46824/05. The State’s brief of October 29, 2009, with a copy of
the proceedings conducted into the death of Ricardo David Videla Fernández attached.
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Statement that inmate Jonathan Matías Díaz Díaz gave at 11:30 a.m. on June 2, 2005 in the presence of the
investigating Prosecutor in court case 46824/05. The State’s brief of October 29, 2009, with a copy of the proceedings conducted
into the death of Ricardo David Videla Fernández attached.